BBL 2018-19 Brisbane Heat vs Melbourne Renegades 26th Match Prediction. Brisbane Heat will be aiming for their third straight win when they go up against Melbourne Renegades in this 26th game of the Big Bash League. The match will be played on January 10 at the Gabba in Brisbane. Live telecast is scheduled to begin at 6:15 PM local time.

Betting Tips

Brisbane Heat will be playing at home but they have lost each of their last three matches played at this ground.

Melbourne Renegades have beaten Brisbane Heat seven times out of nine in the BBL and did the double over them last season.

Brisbane Heat have a stronger batting line-up with Lynn and McCullum back in form while Melbourne Renegades will be without Aaron Finch.

BRH vs MLR, BBL 2018-19: Where to Watch/Live Streaming

Toss Prediction

The opening game of the BBL 08 played at the Gabba was a low-scoring affair which saw the team batting second emerge victorious in the end. Since a similar pitch is expected to be prepared for this game, the team that wins the ‘bat-flip’ here may want to bowl first.

Brisbane Heat Team News & Playing 11

BRH Team News

Brisbane Heat have made one change to their 13-man squad for the Thursday’s encounter against Melbourne Renegades with Alex Ross replacing Marnus Labuschagne. Joe Burns and Alex Ross will be fighting for a single spot and it will be interesting to see who makes the cut into the starting eleven. Leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson was brought in place of left-arm fast bowler Josh Lalor in the last match against Sydney Thunder and he is likely to be retained.

BRH Key Players

Chris Lynn has scores of 84, 33 and 54 in his last three innings. The big-hitter is looking at his destructive best at the moment and he is going to be the real threat for the Melbourne Renegades. Brendon McCullum too returned to form with a fine half-century in the rain-affected game against Sydney Thunder and his opening partner Max Bryant is having a strike-rate of close to 165. Ben Cutting is a reliable batsman in the middle order and a handy option with the ball as well. Brisbane Heat’s bowling, however, will depend a lot more on fast bowler James Pattinson and off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Both have taken four wickets apiece this BBL and will have a key role to play in the powerplay. Mujeeb was very impressive against Perth Scorchers with figures of 2-10 and the team will want him to deliver a similar performance here.

BRH Recent Form

Brisbane Heat have won two and lost three out of the five matches they have played so far this BBL and are placed seventh in the league standings with four points. After making a poor start to their campaign with defeats in their first three matches, the Heat have managed to get themselves on the winning track with back-to-back wins over Perth Scorchers and Sydney Thunder respectively. While their bowlers had a good game against the Scorchers, their top-order batsmen made merry against the Thunder.

Brisbane Heat Predicted Playing 11

Melbourne Renegades Team News & Playing 11

MLR Team News

Melbourne Renegades have released Aaron Finch from their squad who is set to lead the Australian national team in the forthcoming ODI series against India. Test batsman Marcus Harris has been drafted into the squad as a replacement and he will probably open the batting along with Mackenzie Harvey. Tom Cooper will once again take over the captaincy in the absence of Finch. The rest of the Renegades’ line-up is expected to remain unchanged.

MLR Key Players

With Aaron Finch away on international duty, Sam Harper, Mohammad Nabi and Daniel Christian will be the biggest hopes for Melbourne Renegades when it comes to batting. Harper has scored the most runs for the team so far and the wicketkeeper will be expected to make a sizeable contribution at the top of the order. Christian is averaging around 42 and he along with Nabi are the key figures in the middle order. Kane Richardson has been the pick of the bowlers and he is going to pose the biggest threat to Brisbane Heat. The pacer is currently the season’s third-best bowler with 11 wickets in 6 matches and is coming on the back of a three-wicket haul against Hobart Hurricanes. Leg-spinner Cameron Boyce has an overall economy rate of 6.20 which is very good in T20 format and he could build pressure on the opposition by slipping in a few tight overs.

MLR Recent Form

Melbourne Renegades are currently positioned fifth on the BBL 08 points table with three wins and as many losses from six league games. They started off positively with wins in their first two matches but lost all their momentum, facing defeats in their next three matches straight. The Renegades, however, ended their losing streak with a convincing six-wicket victory over Hobart Hurricanes at home in their previous outing.

Team Form in Last Five Matches (most recent first)

BRH : W W L L L

MLR : W L L L W

BRH vs MLR Head to Head

Brisbane Heat and Melbourne Renegades have faced each other nine times in the Big Bash League with the latter leading the scoreline 7-2.

Melbourne Renegades have won their last six matches played against Brisbane Heat, including both the encounters of the previous season.

Melbourne Renegades beat Brisbane Heat by 26 runs in their most recent encounter last year in January at this very ground. Batting first, the Renegades put up a challenging total of 187/3 on the scoreboard before bowling out the Heat for 161.

Matches Played: 9; Brisbane Heat Won: 2; Melbourne Renegades Won: 7

Brisbane Heat vs Melbourne Renegades Betting Odds

Brisbane Heat begin as the bookmakers’ favorites to win this 26th match of the Big Bash League 2018-19. The home team has been fixed at odds of 1.83 on Betway, 1.85 on Bet365 and 1.92 on Betfair. Melbourne Renegades are the underdogs for this game and are being offered at a higher price of 1.90 on Betway, 2 on Bet365 and 2.02 on Betfair.

Brisbane Heat vs Melbourne Renegades Prediction

Melbourne Renegades boast an impressive record against Brisbane Heat with seven wins from nine head-to-head meetings. They have beaten the Heat in each of their previous six attempts and won both their matches against them last BBL. These two teams have faced each other three times at the Gabba and the Renegades have won on all three occasions. However, they are going to be without Aaron Finch and this will surely take away plenty of strength from their batting. Brisbane Heat, on the other hand, have made a strong comeback after losing their first three matches and they now look a lot more powerful batting unit with Brendon McCullum and Chris Lynn back amongst the runs. With momentum and home advantage on their side and with their batting and bowling departments finally clicking together, we expect the Heat to bag their third win in a row.